Marathon County to take first step toward jail expansion

The county soon will begin negotiations to purchase the Crooks, Low & Connell law firm building on North Sixth Street in Wausau. The location could potentially become the site of a jail expansion.
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WAUSAU – Marathon County officials will soon begin negotiations to purchase land for a future jail expansion to accommodate the increasing jail population.

The properties, owned by Patrick Crooks and James Low, located near to the courthouse at 525 and 527-531 Washington St. and 210 N. Sixth St., were assessed at a total of $600,400 last year. The properties are leased to Crooks, Low & Connell, a law firm. If the county took ownership, at least two of the properties would be leased back to the firm.

Several months ago, county officials voted to allow Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger to meet with the lawyers who own the property, but they were not interested in selling, Karger said. Now, Crooks, who recently retired from the law firm, has asked for the county to make an offer.

The jail expansion, which is estimated to cost up to $26 million including staffing, according to Karger’s 2014 proposed budget will not happen until after the county no longer can rent jail space from Lincoln and other neighboring counties, Karger said. Karger estimates the expansion could happen in five to 10 years, he said.

“At some point, we’re going to have to expand that jail,” Karger told the county’s Finance and Property Committee during a Monday meeting. “I hope it’s a long time away ... but let’s get it done when they’re ready to sell and check it off the list because sooner or later, we’re going to want those properties.”

The jail’s total population for 2012 was 3,918, the highest since 2008. And the numbers still are rising due to drug arrests, Karger said.

From 2003 to 2012, the Marathon County District Attorney’s office had a 2,300 percent increase in heroin referrals and an 860 percent increase in meth referrals, according to the most recent Marathon County LIFE report, which provides data depicting the quality of life in the county.

“Violent crime (in Marathon County) is lower now than in 1972,” Karger said. “Drugs are filling the jail, not violent crime.”

Theresa Clift can be reached at 715-845-0665. Follow her on Twitter as @tclift.